Turbine-driven locomotive.



No. 880,163. PATENTED FEB. 25, 1908. C. POTTIOARY. TURBINE DRIVEN LOCOMOTIVE 5 SHEETSSHEET 1.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22,1907.

No. 880,163. PATENTED FEB. 25, 1908 0. POTTIUARY. TURBINE DRIVEN LOOOMOTIVE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22,1907.

5 SHEETSSHEET 2.

swueuroz No. 880,163. PATENTED FEB. 25, 1908. O. 'POTTIOARY. TURBINE DRIVEN LOOOMOTIVE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22,1907,

5 $HEETSSHEET 3.

B m Wa Lg attozmngd am in eooeo No. 880,168 PATENTED FEB. 25, 1908. G. POTTIGARY. TURBINE DRIVEN LOGOMOTIVE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22,1907.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

1 human affozmzir No. 880,163. PATENTED FEB. 25, 1908.

' G. POTTIGARY.

TURBINE DRIVEN LOOOMOTIVE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22.1907.

5 SHEETSSHEET 5.

[ n ucul'oz Wi tn eons aftoumw the lines 5-5 and (i-6 of Fig. 1.

"UNETE STTES PATENT OFFICE.

TURBINE-DRIVEN LOCOMOTIVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 25, 1908.

Application filed June 22. 1907. Serial No. 380.283-

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES POTTICARY, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Thomas, in the Province of (Bntario, Dominion.of Canada, have invented certain new anduseful improvements in Turloim Driven Locomotives; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention has reference to locomotives adapted to be propelled by an elastic fluid turbinemounted on the. main frame of the locomotive, and it aims, broadly, to provide a powerful and durable, as well as highly efficient engine of the abovementioned typetin which the turbine shaft is directly connected with the front and rear drivers, and in which the admission of the elastic fluid to the turbine is positively under the control of the engine, whereby the engine may be started and stopped and the direction of rotation of the turbine readily and uickly re versed.

With the above and other ends in view, the invention consists in the construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, all as hereinafter more fully described, specific ally claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are designated by correspondin reference numerals in the several views.

Of the said drawings-Figure 1 is a side elevation of a turbine-driven locomotive constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof, a part of the casing of the turbine being broken away. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section. Figs. 5 and 6 are transverse sections taken on Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail view of one of the turbine Wheels. Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmental view of the steam chest, illustrating the disposition of the compound reversing lever and valves therein, and the pipe connections be tween the steam chest, turbine. and throttle chamber. Fig. i) is a perspective view of one of the valves carried by the reversing lever.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 designates the main frame of the locomotive, 2 the front truck, and 3 and 4 the front and rear drivers mounted, respectively, upon the front and rear axles 5 and 6 .journaled at opposite ends in bearings secured to the under face of the main frame, which latter carries ahorizontal boiler 7 provided with a steam-chest 9 and a throttle chamber 8.

The throttle chamber, above referred to, which is provided with a lever 10 to which. the stem of a cutoff valve 11 is pivoted, is i connected by a pipe 12 with the steamchest, and by a second pipe 13 with the interior of a housing 14, in which a turbine .15 is rotatably mounted. upon a shaft 16, said shaft projecting at opposite ends through openings formed in the side walls of the housing and being journaled at suchpoints in bracket bearings 17, the housing and brackets being bolted or otherwise secured to the boiler.

At its rear end, the turbine shaft carries a sprocket 18 connected by a chain 19 with a sprocket 20 secured to the projecting outer end of. a worm shaft 2-1, which Worm shaft or stoker is disposed in the rear compartment of the tire-box 22 located at the rear end of the main frame and beneath the boiler, the

fire-box, being fed to the stoker from a hopper 23 which communicates directly with the stoker compartment and is located below the tire-door 2%.

The upper wall of the fire-box i's-perforated in the usual manner for the reception of the lower ends of the flues 25, which extend longitudinally within the boiler chamber, each flue comprising an upper section and a lower section which are disposed in the corresponding compartments into which the boiler chamber is divided. by a horizontal, longitiufinally-extending partition plate 26', said plate terminating short of the forward end of the boiler chamber, as shown in Fig. 4. The products of combustion will therefore pass through the perforations in the upper wall of the fire-box, and from thence through the lines, the free ends of the upper sections of which are disposed directly beneath the smoke. stack 27, which is located at the rear end of the boiler, the bent construction of the fines causing the products of combustion to pass twice from end to end of the boiler chamber prior to their discharge through the smoke stack. are continued through the rear end of the boiler and are directed downwardly, as indicated by the reference numeral 28, and are I finally led through the stoker chamber, as at 1 29, to a point directly beneath the grate 30 of coal, which is forced by the stoker into the Four of the fines, however, i

the fire-box, whence the products of combustion carried. thercthrough will be forced upwardl through the grate openings.

The exhaust steam from the turbine is discharged through a pipe 31 directly across the ash-pan disposed'within the fire chamber beneath the grate 30, said pipe being connected at its upper end with the turbine housing and having its opposite end led through an opening formed in the adjacent side wall of said chamber.

The adn'iission of steam into the housing will therefore directly effect the rotation of the turbine, as will be understood, which movementwill be transmitted through the chain and sprocket connection above described, to the stoker shaft by which the fuel is fed into the fire-box, the exhaust steam being discharged across the ash-pan as stated.

Disposed between the drivers 3' and 4 and journaled at opposite ends in brackets32 bolted to the main frame and to the boiler,

, is a transverse shaft 33, which carries a pair of turbine wheels 34, arranged side by side and nice sed by a two-part housing 35, which is l kewise bolted to the boiler. Each section v of this two-part housing is provided with a pair of inlet ports 36 and 37, and with an outlet port 38, while the steam-chest has formed in its top at each side a pair of outlet ports 3?) and 4-0, and towards its bottom a pair of inlet ports 41: The inlet port 36 of each housing section is connected by a long -pipe 42 with the corresponding steam-chest port 39, while its inlet pipe 37 is connected by a short pipe 43 with the port 40, the corresponding ports 38 and 41 being connected by the pipes 44 through which the deadsteam is exhausted from the turbines. The steam-chest, i-norcover, is provided with a reversing mechanism, by means of which the direction of rotation of theturbines may be changed at will, to start or back the locomotive, such mechanism comprising a rearwardly-extending angle-lever 45, which is pivoted at its forward end to a rock-shaft 46, journaled in brackets secured to the steamchest, said rock-shaft being provided towards its opposite ends with a pair of laterally-projecting brackets having bifurcated outer ends inwhich the stems 47 of a pair of cutofl' valves 48 are pivoted. Each cut'oil' valve which is slidably fitted in a seat formed in the upper portion of the steam-chest, is provided with a pair of openings 4J'and 50,

"formed transversely tlwrethrough, and "with a laterally-projecting tongue 51 disposed between said openings and adapted to close. one or the other of a pa1r of outlet channels 53 and 54. When, therefore, the reversing lever is swung in one direction both portsor openings 54 will be covered by. the tongues 51, the live steam passing, in consequence, through the openings 53, the forward openings 49 in the cutoff valves and the ports 40 l l l l in the steam-chest, out through the short pipes 43 to the inlet orts 37 in the turbine musing, and thence irectly against the turbines, reversing their motion and stopping or backing the locomotive. Movement of the reversing lever in the opposite direction will cause the valve tongues to cover the openings 53 and uncover the openings 54, when the steam will be free to pass out through the rear ports 50 in the valves, and the ports 39 in the steam-chest, and through the long pipes 42 and ports 36 to the turbines, rotating the latter in their normal direction, to move the locomotive forwardly. The reversing lever is held in adjusted position by a pawl and rack mechanism of any conventional type. i

The transverse shaft 33, upon which the turbine wheels are mounted, is further provided at opposite ends with a pair of drivers 55, which are disposed directly between the corresponding front and rear drivers 3 and 4., Each of the several drivers above referred to, has formed upon its outer face an enlar ed hub portion 56, whose periphery is provi ed with a series of concentric annular grooves 57, said grooves being adapted for the receptlon of the loops of the driving cables 58, the forward end of each cable passing around an idler 59 carried by the pilot 60, the brackets in which the idlers are mounted being movable endwise in their bearings, to tighten or loosen the cables.

In positioning the driving cables, they are passed over the hubs of the up er drivers 55, and around the hubs of the gout and rear drivers 3 and 4 in opposite directions, as shown, the several loopscrossing each other. The rotation of the upper drivers, carried on the turbine shaftwill therefore effect the rotation of the lower or front and rear drivers, and, in consequence, the propulsion of the locomotive.

The turbine 15 disposed within the housing 14 and one of theturbines 34 within the housing 35 are preferably simple, while the other turbine 34 is of the compound type,

although it is to be understood that all maybe of either type, according as desired Thesimple turbine, as shown in Fig. 7, 1s p ro vided with a series of diagonally extending peripheralsteam ports 60, between which are interposed the packing rings 61 and headers 62, each of which fits in a correspondingly shaped seat formed in the periphery of the wheel, said rings and headers being normally held in raised position by means of springs 63 inter osed therebeneath within the correspon ing seats, the springs forcing the rings and headersyieldingly upward. Escape of steam from one of said ports to another, and from one of the turbine wheels 34 -t0 the other, is thus prevented, as. the fittings of the rin s and headers are steam tight, as will be un erstood.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that i the supply of steam to the turbines'is posi-' tively under the control of the engineer, who is thus enabled to startand stop the locomotive, and effect its propulsion backwards or forwards at will. levers, which control the admission of steam to the turbines are provided with cable or link connections which extend rearwardly, to

withinreach of the engineerwithin the cab,

but no specific description or illustration of said-elements has been thought necessary in view of the fact that they are of the ordinary type and common to all locomotives. The

cab is likewise of the conventional type and therefore requires no further description.

Although the invention has been shown and described as applied to a locomotive, it

- is to be understood that the turbinesm'ay be utilized for driving any type of traction ve-I hic'le.

W hat is claimed, .is'

1. In a tUI'bIHGTdI'IVGH traction vehicle, the combination with a frame and a plurality of driving wheels carried thereby, of a boiler mounted upon the frame; a turbine mounted upon the'boiler, and disposed transversely thereof between said driving wheels, the shaft of said turbine carrying a driving wheel at each. end; belt connections between the hubs of the first and last mentioned driving wheels;

' and means for controlling the supply ofpressure medium to said turbin'e. 1 g

2 Ina turbine-driven traction vehicle, the combination with a frame and a plurality of driving wheels carried thereby, each of. said driving wheels having anenlarged hub formed on its outer face and provided'with a plurality of peripheral grooves, of a'boiler mounted upon the frame; a turbine mounted upon the boiler and disposed transversely thereof between said driving wheels, the

. for con-trolling shaft of said turbine carrying a driving wheel at each end, each of said last-mentioned driving wheels having a grooved, enlarged hub similar to those formed on said first-mentioned driving wheels; a cabl'econnection between each set of driving Wheels, the loops of each cable being seated in the groovesin each hub and crossing each other in. their passage from one hub to another; and means he supply of pressure medium to said turbine;

3. In a turbine-driven traction vehicle, the

combination, with a frame and'a plurality of driving wheels carried thereby, of a boiler I mounted upon the frame; a turbine mounted upon the boiler and disposedtransversely thereof between the wheels, said turbine including. inlet and exhaust pipes; a steam chest communicating with-said inlet pipes;

The reverse and throttle means for controlling the supply of steam to said steam-chest; a driving wheel carried upon eachend of the turbine shaft; and a cable connection between the hub of each of said last-mentioned driving wheels and the hubs of the adjacent driving Wheels carried by-said frame.

4. In a turbine-driven traction vehicle, the

combination, with a frame and a plurality of a through one or the other of each pair of inlet pipes, to rotate the turbine wheels in one direction or the other; -a driving wheel carried upon eachend of the turbine shaft; and a cable connection between the hub of each of" said last-mentibned driving wheels and the hubs of the adjacent driving wheels carried by said frame. I

5. -In a turbine-driven locomotive, the combination with a frame and front and rear driving wheels carried thereby, of a boiler disposed upon the frame; a housing mounted uponthe boiler between the driving wheels; a-turbine disposed within the housing transversely of the boiler and provided with a pair of inlet pipes and an exhaust pipe communicating therewith at one end; a

provided with a series of ports in which the 4 opposite ends'of said inlet pipes are fitted: a throttle chamber mounted upon the boiler in communication with the steam-chest; reversin'g mechanism carried by the steam chest for directing the flow of steam into one or the other of said inlet pipes, to change the direction of rotation of the turbine; a turbine mounted upon the frame at the rear end thereof; a screw'conveyer disposed within the fire-box of the locomotive; and driving connections between the shaft of said conveyer and the shaft ofthe last-mentioned turbine.

In testimony whereof, Iaflix my signature,

inpresence of two witnesses.

. CHARLES POTTICARY.

I Witnesses:

MARGARET MoCnnvnuox, .--ISABEL MoCmMMoN.

steam-chest mounted upon the boiler and 

